As someone who owns a cat, let me tell you that holding a cat that DOES NOT want to be in the water that close to your bare chest is a BAD IDEA. Cats will burrow through your chest like a mole if they have to in order to get out of water if they are scared of it. Satori's asking for a nipple to be clawed off. (And, incidentally, if you introduce them to water as a kitten, there's a good chance they'll grow up not being scared of water...)
Crows probably shouldn't be capable of floating like a duck, either, but would be fine with standing in shallow water (or on Satori's shin or something), and birds will bathe of their own accord to keep parasites like mites from getting into their wings.